Hammers making Rod for own back
WEST Ham missed the chance to climb further away from relegation trouble after Jay Rodriguez fired Burnley to a 1-0 victory in east London last night.
Rodriguez’s first-half goal, a bullet header in off the underside of the crossbar, boosted Burnley’s hopes of a place in Europe next season. But the Hammers could not find a way through a resolute Clarets defence and remain four points clear of the bottom three.
Burnley should have taken the lead when Erik Pieters blazed Matej Vydra’s lay-off over. Vydra then headed straight into the arms of Lukasz Fabianski before, at the opposite end, Nick Pope blocked a volley from Tomas Soucek and kept out Michail Antonio’s drive.
So it was against the run of play when Burnley took the lead after 38 minutes, Rodriguez meeting Taylor’s cross for his tenth goal of the season. James Tarkowski could count himself lucky to stay on the pitch early in the second half after planting his studs into the thigh of Jarrod Bowen.
Hammers boss David Moyes sent on West Ham’s record signing Sebastien Haller, fit again after a hip injury, and within seconds he shot weakly at Pope. Burnley had the ball in the net through Chris Wood, but he was flagged offside.
The Hammers could not find a leveller and are left to sweat for a while longer.